Smith: Want to fix education in S.C.? Take the stairs

My roommate and I were making our way to check out of the hotel on the final morning of an education conference in Charleston when we saw another educator standing in front of the eighth-floor elevators, luggage in hand, crying, “I’ve been here for 10 minutes and haven’t been able to get an elevator.”

We turned around and located the stairs, walked down eight flights and, voila, we were in the lobby. As others trickled down the stairs, they recounted their own stories of encountering that same lady, still standing outside the eighth-floor elevators, exclaiming to all who came by, “I’ve been here for (fill in the blank) minutes and haven’t been able to get an elevator!”

Is this not a picture of what is wrong in education in South Carolina today?

Too often, educators are so ensconced in their comfortable boxes that they can’t see another way to do things. We’re not reaching students who are behind, or challenging our brightest students, yet we continue to teach to the middle and allow these students to get bored and lose their motivation and excitement for learning. We know there’s a problem, but we stand in the hallway and cry out to those around us instead of finding an alternate route.

So today, my message is simple: Take the stairs. When you reach an impasse, find another way. If you’re not reaching every single student in your sphere of influence, find an alternate route. Don’t be content to let a single student pass you who isn’t challenged, motivated and ultimately successful. And sometimes the most immovable figures in education are in administration, at the district office or on our school boards.

Our public schools should exist for the sole purpose of providing the very best possible education for each and every South Carolina student — not to provide employment for our state’s adults. If stumbling blocks refuse to get out of the way, we need to provide a push. Our students deserve only the very best that we can give them.

Take the stairs, South Carolina. For our students’ sakes, take the stairs.

This story was originally published July 26, 2015 at 5:46 PM.